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About the opera:
Lucia di Lammermoor is a dramma tragico (tragic opera) in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Salvatore Cammarano wrote the Italian libretto loosely based upon Sir Walter Scott’s historical novel The Bride of Lammermoor.Very successful from creation, today it remains one of the leading bel canto operas. The opera premiered on September 26, 1835 at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples. Donizetti revised the score for a French version which debuted on August 6, 1839 at the Théâtre de la Renaissance in Paris. The best-known pieces in Lucia di Lammermoor are the sextet at the end of Act II and Lucia’s “Mad Scene” in Act III. The “Mad Scene,” “Il dolce suono…Spargi d’amaro pianto,” has historically been a vehicle for several coloratura sopranos (providing a breakthrough for Dame Joan Sutherland) and is a technically and expressively demanding piece. Some sopranos, most notably Maria Callas, have performed the role in a relatively come scritto (“as written”) fashion, adding minimal ornamentation to their interpretations. Most sopranos, however, add ornamentation to demonstrate their technical ability, as was the tradition in the bel canto period. This involves the addition and interpolation of trills, mordents, turns, runs and cadenzas. Almost all sopranos (most famously Joan Sutherland) append cadenzas to the end of the “Mad Scene”, sometimes ending them on a high E-flat. Maria Callas often opted not to sing the E-flat, although she did sing it in some performances conducted by Tullio Serafin. Some sopranos, including Ruth Welting, have sung the mad scene in Donizetti’s original F major key, ending it with a high F natural instead of transposing it one step down to the E-flat major key. For decades Lucia was considered to be a mere showpiece for coloratura sopranos and was a little-known part of the operatic repertory. However, after World War II, a small number of technically-able sopranos, the most notable of whom were Maria Callas and Joan Sutherland, revived the opera in all of its original tragic glory. Sutherland’s performances in the role at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in 1959 and repeated in 1960 established Lucia as her calling card.